The present invention relates to a dustpan and more particularly, to improvements in dustpans.
Dustpans are well known in the art and are used to pickup dust or debris following a sweeping operation. Many such dustpans are known in the art with the basic dustpan comprising a base, a rear wall, a pair of side walls, and a relatively short handle extending horizontally from the rear wall in a plane which is generally parallel to the base. This type of dustpan requires bending over or stooping of the person using the same and to obviate this, there have been proposals in the art for various types of dustpans which incorporate extended handles. Thus, for example, there is shown a dustpan having an extended handle and with a spout for emptying collected debris in U.S. Pat. No. 2,864,117 to Williams. Other arrangements having extended handles include, for example the dustpan of U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,611 wherein an elongated handle is provided with the dustpan pivotably mounted on the handle for emptying purposes.
Some of the problems which still exist with such dustpans is the relationship of the handle to the dustpan. Typically, when using the dustpan for a plurality of operations, one must leave the dustpan by itself while continuing a sweeping operation. Most of the known dustpans will have the handle fall down to the floor thereby again requiring a stooping or bending operation by the person using the dustpan. Also, a similar problem occurs when the dustpan is to be stored. It is desirable that the pan can be stored with the handle in an upright position and easily removed therefrom.